Picture Book (studio album)
by Simply Red

Picture Book by Simply Red
Year: 1985
Overall rank: 3,494th   Overall chart historyOverall chart history
Average Rating: 
74/100 (from 138 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution   Average rating historyAverage rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1985 (44th)
Award Top albums of the 1980s (529th)
Award Best albums of all time (3,494th)

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Product Details
Availability

eBay
eBay
SIMPLY RED - PICTURE BOOK NEW VINYL
Condition: New


eBay
eBay
Simply Red - Picture Book - Simply Red CD C0VG The Cheap Fast Free Post
Condition: Very Good


eBay
eBay
Sealed - SIMPLY RED Vinyl Lp - PICTURE BOOK Original 1985 Elektra Records
Condition: New


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Simply Red bestography

Picture Book is ranked as the best album by Simply Red.

Simply Red album bestography « Higher ranked
-
This album (3,494th)
Picture Book
Lower ranked (4,827th) »
Stars

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

Upcoming concerts

Mar
07
Sat
19:30
IL Divo w/ Simply Three
Alys Robinson Stephens PAC, Birmingham, United States. United States
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Picture Book track list

  Track ratingsTrack ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 77 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Track
Rating/Comments
1.
Rating: 78 (33 votes)Comments: View 0
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2.
Rating: 77 (30 votes)Comments: View 0
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3.
Rating: 75 (30 votes)Comments: View 0
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4.
Rating: 77 (33 votes)Comments: View 0
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5.
Rating: 77 (30 votes)Comments: View 0
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9.
Rating: 72 (27 votes)Comments: View 1
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10.
Rating: 77 (32 votes)Comments: View 1
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Track pick Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Picture Book rankings

Picture Book collection

Picture Book ratings

Average Rating: 
74/100 (from 138 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 138 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
75/100
 Report rating
07/24/2025 08:06 anybody187  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 1274/100
 
65/100
 Report rating
07/23/2025 23:35 davidbalo  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 35676/100
 
10/100
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06/04/2025 02:51 Proto  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 3,59033/100
 
75/100
 Report rating
04/18/2025 13:56 machiaj  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 76471/100
 
65/100
 Report rating
04/09/2025 14:26 habibi333  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 89673/100

Rating metrics: Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 24% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 73.6/100, a mean average of 71.4/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 73.7/100. The standard deviation for this album is 18.0.

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Picture Book favourites

Showing all 13 members who have added this album as a favourite

Picture Book comments

Showing all 9 comments |
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Rating:  
75/100
From 09/24/2025 19:48
This is one of those purchases because of radio time from the song "Holding Back The Years". Mick Hucknall has that soul sound voice and is a good songwriter. There are a couple songs that I like that I think most people find average, that is "Come To My Aid" and "Jericho".
#311047 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 09/08/2024 12:47
My favorite band of all time. Impeccable style made of pop, soul and funk
#305181 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 03/12/2019 20:43
I think that this album is often overshadowed by Stars which is another excellent album. Simply Red isn't all about Mick Hucknall, yes he is a great vocalist and frontman but this band is made up of some great musicians too. This album mixes many styles incorporating jazz, rock, mood music to name but a few. 'Picture Book' is a personal favourite with almost prog like leanings.
#233428 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 11/24/2018 11:41
Some good tracks (1, 2 and 6), some filler and one of the best songs ever written.
#225589 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 01/21/2018 19:12
Actually a pretty nice choice for late night listening.
#206217 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 07/03/2016 16:22
My favorite songs : Jericho....Holding back the years....Sad old red.....Picture book ....Heaven
#170416 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 08/05/2015 20:59
They would be a forgettable pop soul band but for Hucknall's singing and he was never better than he was here. This is a consistent collection with the standout "Holding Back the Years," which makes my list of best songs ever written.
#147172 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
15/100
From 04/25/2014 22:23
This comment is beneath your viewing threshold.
#110083 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -6 votes (0 helpful | 6 unhelpful)
From 06/24/2012 13:29
Holding is a justifiable classic and is the song that got this band famous. But its on tracks such as Picture book that shows Hucknall's talent - the man can flat out sing.
#45277 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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